Kent State coach Darrell Hazell informed his coaching staff at 6:15 this morning and his players at 6:30 he was leaving to become Purdue’s new head football coach. Hazell replaces Danny Hope, who was fired after four seasons and a 22-27 record.

Hazell is leaving today at 4 p.m., to fly to Purdue to conduct a 7 p.m., press conference at Mackey Arena.

Highlights from his Kent State press conference:

• Hazell received Purdue’s offer at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday and accepted the job at 9 p.m.

ESPN is reporting that Hazell will be paid $2 million annually for six years. He had a base salary of $300,000 at Kent State.

Asked if Purdue was buying out the remainder of his contract: “I’m not going to talk about my contract.”

• Hazell said he spoke with Purdue three times. First phone call came last week before the Golden Flashes played Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference championship game.

“I said I didn’t want to do anything before the championship game,” Hazell said.

Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke and his athletic administration team flew to Ohio to meet with Hazell on Monday. Hazell also talked with Purdue on Tuesday.

“We discussed a lot of things,” Hazell said. “I also explained to them what I need to be successful. It was a good marriage.”

• When Hazell met with the Kent State players, he said he was in the room probably five minutes.

“I made a statement. I asked if they had any questions. There were no questions. I told them I loved them and I walked out.”

Asked what were the player’s reaction: “They were somewhat somber but they were happy I was able to take the job.”

Hazell was emotional throughout the press conference.

“When you live seven days a week with these guys, all hours of the clock, that’s why you become emotional,” he said.

• On what’s appealing about Purdue:

“It’s a school with great academics with a ton of possibilities of successful on the football field. They needed some energy at this point and time,” he said.

He said his biggest challenges are the drop in attendance and the lack of excitement about the program.

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“Maybe that’s me speaking out of turn because I’m not there and I haven’t evaluated the program yet, but it’s going to take some time to really evaluate what needs to be done out there,” Hazell said. “I’ll have a check list of items I need to go through in the next couple of days and next couple of months. On the check list right now is putting together a great staff, contacting the ’13 commitments and making sure they’re solid and recruit.”

What will be Hazell’s role in recruiting?

“I’ll be in everybody’s house. That’s how you get good players,” he said.

• Hazell said a decision will be made today whether he coaches Kent State in the Jan. 6 GoDaddy.com Bowl against Arkansas State. He said the decision rests with KSU athletic director Joel Nielsen.

“Guys need to know who’s coaching them,” he said.

Hazell said Purdue has “granted me permission to coach in the bowl game.”

• Regarding his coaching staff, Hazell said he’ll look at his current assistants and the ones at Purdue before making a final decision.

• On whether Hazell entertained other job offers: “You always get calls, but until they become serious you don’t pay much attention.”